James Tucker. Pic: www.jamesjtucker.co.uk
James Tucker. Pic: www.jamesjtucker.co.uk

Burntwood racing driver James Tucker admits he wasn’t too disappointed with his latest showing at Snetterton despite a second race crash that halted his progress.

The young driver was the pick of the first year racers in qualifying as he secured seventh place ahead of race one in the Formula Ford event.

And with the rain beginning to fall, Tucker managed to hold onto his position over the first few laps and then stuck with it as the gap to the lead group began to close.

An opportunity to dive around the outside of the polesitter came at the Esses chicane and allowed the Burntwood man to slip into sixth place. But the move halted his progress by allowing a gap to open up to the next car.

Race two again saw Tucker perform well as he became embroiled in a ten-way scrap for the lead.

But frustration got the better of the Burntwood man as he attempted to pass Josh Hill on lap three, only to clash wheels. The collision threw Hill up into the air, breaking his suspension and putting him out of the race. The damage also crossed over to Tucker’s car as his rear suspension was bent, leaving him to struggle with an unstable car.

He did manager to struggle round for the next four lapsm only dropping one place until he was hit by another bit of bad luck when a puncture forced him into a pit stop – something that does not usually happen in Formula Ford.

Tucker eventually finished the race in last place due to the puncture, put managed to set the fifth fastest lap on his spare tyre and bent suspension.

He said after the race:

“The weekend was looking so good from qualifying and practice and even in race one it was still going well. Unfortunately bad luck hit in race two, but that’s the ups and downs of racing.

“I am still very happy with my pace in race two despite everything being against me and I am now looking forward to the race next weekend at Brands Hatch.”

James Tucker is sponsored by Superseal.co.uk, BGPrinters.co.uk, MTS and Sue-Sew.

Founder of Lichfield Live and editor of the site.